Last week we attended, together with a Manoel Theatre audience that packed the theatre up to the uppermost boxes, a most magnificent event. As part of the Annual Valletta Baroque Festival that its artistic director, Kenneth Zammit Tabona introduced to Malta 12 years ago, this evening was special.
Apart from celebrating Bach and his works for violin, it also contained one of the Brandenburg Concertos ably led by conductor and cembalist Michael Laus.
What was so special this time was the absolute quality of two world class violinists, our own Carmine Lauri and Charlie Siem, a frequent visitor to Malta.
Each regaled us with a violin concerto by the baroque master Johan Sebastian Bach. What kept the audience spellbound was not only the quality of their performance and perfection in interpretation of Bach’s two concertos, but the special qualities of the violins that they were playing. One had a Stradivarius and the other a Guarneri.
These two manufacturers of violins were competing in the 18th century to see who of them could produce the violin that came closest to perfection of sound, tone and exactness.
I am sure that these two expert choices that Kenneth made when preparing the programme for 2025 has not gone unnoticed. Just like the quality of the performers we must also applaud the quality of the choices made by our artistic director.
You could hear a pin drop, which is not the normal thing at Maltese theatres since, often, the audience consists of a mixed bag of music lovers and complimentary ticket holders.
The former strain to critically listen and enjoy the performances. The latter enjoy the night out but cannot keep from bringing out their mobiles from time to time to check on the results of a football match or a WhatsApp message from mother and have the mistaken view that they must applaud at each break in the music as they do at pop concerts in Ta’ Qali. This time, even the philistines were captured by this magical concert.
The last piece, when the two excellent violinists played the concerto for two violins of Bach, the two violins could be compared and, choosing which of the two, Stradivarius or Guarneri, had the better tone, the clearer sounds and the finer wooden structure was the subject of conversation as the spellbound audience left the theatre after this magnificent show.
Carmine and Charlie even exchanged violins halfway through the concerto to show their virtuosity and to test the audience’s aural senses to the full.
Bravo, bravissimi, both of you.
At the end, one could see that Carmine was moved by the large audience and their attention to the music.
What a wonderful theatre we have in Valletta and how lucky we are to have conductors, soloists, an artistic director and theatre management to make our winter in Malta so pleasant.
The move from mass tourism of cheap tourists on cruise liners or on Ryanair coming for cheap booze and pop concerts or an airbnb week in the sun to tourism of quality, where fewer come but spend more, can only really happen when more of these events are presented.
I think Ridley Scott was right and should not have fallen for the offer of more millions dangled before his eyes by our wasteful film commission in order to offer a sort of apology. He meant it when he said that Malta is beautiful but, unless it ups its act, no tourist of quality will come.
We know how easy it is in Malta to commit sins, to cheat on taxes, or to rob the state coffers with false contracts or with fraudulent deals and then pretend to apologise and get off the hook.
So, once more, thank you Kenneth, conductor Laus, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and, especially, Carmine Lauri and Charlie Siem. Please come back many more times.
John Vassallo is a former ambassador to the EU.